It’s needless to emphasize the power of music in film.
With its evocative, emotional, and even informative essence, but also as an architecture of time, the music can completely change the perception of the film and make the same film look completely different with different music. The music can verticalize (slow down) or vectorize (direct) the time, change the perception of space in and out of sight, to tell us everything that has not been told by the other means of expression utilized by the film, to bring to the surface the invisible guest on stage, to evoke memories, to direct attention, and even to manipulate the parasympathetic nervous system of the audience. Undoubtedly, the power of music comes from its essence, and that is the immediacy – music reaches and stimulates emotions before being processed by the reason, and, in this case, it serves a higher purpose – the film.
Living Music Project is a project precisely for that – to bring to light such power of the auditory art, which is overshadowed by the dominant visual.
Initiated by the idea and mentorship of Professor Darija Andovska, the LIVING MUSIC project will once again be featured at the CINEDAYS Festival of European Film in 2024, marking its third consecutive appearance. Over the past years, we were acquainted with many film directors and composers whose contributions have helped create stunning compositions featured in various short films, distinguished by the audiences across Europe. All coordinated by Angel Spiroski and Jane Spasic, to whom we are extremely grateful for their selfless contribution to the past editions.
This year, the young producer Dino Cupevski is coordinating a project that will unite 13 film directors and composers. From July 9th, until July 17th, when the final presentation will take place at the MKC kino Frosina, composer Rebeca Vilpuu from Estonia, composer Isabella Calmet from Peru, baritone Robin De Jaeger from Belgium and our domestic composers Gligor Kondovski, Anastasija Golceva, Nikola Malinov, Darko Jovanov, Nikola Ivanovski, as well as the students Mihail Dimovski and Nikola Vesev from the Faculty of Music – Skopje, will collaborate on the four selected films this year, directed by Utku Cirak from Turkey, Luis Sosa from Mexico and our own Leon Ristov and Bojan Vasilev.
This initiative represents an exhilarating exploration and implementation of contemporary artistic dialogues and collaborations in European cinema, which highlights our commitment to push the boundaries and continue to build CINEDAYS as one of the key film festivals in the country.